I Will Follow You
by Kari Kurofai
Summary: We meet so unexpectedly, never knowing that we are so closely interwined by fate. Destiney never changes. TigerFire oneshot request slight SLASH


**I Will Follow You**

This is a request from JuiceyLemons, I hope u like!

Rusty's eyes sparkled with excitement in the afternoon sunlight. His mother had let them outside for the first time, and he couldn't believe how big the world was outside of his housefolk's nest. There were trees and bushes, flowers and soft grass everywhere. And a fence. Rusty followed his siblings off the back porch, tripping over himself as he ran behind them.

Timber was trying to climb a tree, but to the little fire furred kit, it looked more like he was wiggling up it a tail-length or so, and then sliding back down. His other brother, Jester, was sniffing among the bushes to the far right of the yard, his tail waving about in excitement.

"Rusty!" Jester hissed softly, motioning with his tail towards his brother, "Come over here!" The small ginger tom bounded towards the black kit, "What is it? What?"

"Shhh . . ." Jester muttered. "There's something in there," he turned and poked his face into the bushes again, and Rusty followed suit. There was a strange smell in the bush, and Rusty was about too wiggle farther in when Jester jerked back suddenly in alarm, and a large robin came screeching out of the leaves at them.

"Run!" Jester mewed, diving into the grass, Rusty hot on his heals. They could hear their mother laughing from the porch, and when the ginger kitten dared poke his head out of the grass, he made a face at her. "What if it had eated us?"

His mother shook her head, laughing softly, her long snow-white fur slicked back from the slight breeze in the air. "Robins don't eat kittens, Rusty. You probably got too close to it's nest, and that's why it flew at you."

Jester leaned towards him, "Don't listen to her, I heard that Robins can be reeaaally big and swallow you whole," he muttered in his brother's ear.

The ginger kit shuddered, and turned towards the tree on the other side of the yard, catching sight of his sister trying to push Timber farther up the tree. He bounced towards her, grinning, "Princess! Let's go explore that fence!"

The brown and white she-cat looked up from underneath the hefty Timber's bottom, "What? The fence?" She wiggled out from under her brother, mewling with laughter as he slid back down the tree with a huff. "Okay! Let's go!"

Together, they sneaked through the grass, trying their best to keep their tails low so their mother wouldn't see. "We have to be sneaky," Rusty mewed softly.

"Sneaky," his sister repeated with a smile.

They weaved through the grass, in and out, around and low to the ground, until they reached the farthest corner of the wooden barrier. Rusty stared up at it in awe, "Whoa . . . What do you think is on the other side?"

"Another yard?" Princess suggested, staring up at it contemplatively. "More cats maybe?"

Now that idea was much more to Rusty's liking. What were other cats like? Were they really tall? Maybe there were strange cats on the other side that ate fierce creatures like robins. "Let's go," he mewed, eyes wide. He jumped at the fence, his claws catching on the wood. His sister followed suit, scrambling up not far behind him.

When they reached the top, Rusty was startled to see that it wasn't just another yard on the other side. "It's a really _big_ yard," he said in wonder. "There's not even any fences that I can see!" He leaned forward, clinging to the edge of the fence by his claws. "I wonder how far it go-" He slipped, and tumbled off the fence with a cry.

Princess gasped, slipping down into the safety of the yard, "Mother! Mother! Rusty fell! He fell into the big yard!" Rusty lay stunned and dazed in the tall grass on the other side, his paws in the air. Hadn't his mother said something once about cat's landing on their feet? He groaned, pulling himself up onto wobbly paws, the world still spinning around him. His emerald eyes caught sight of the tree line farther ahead, and he stared at it for a moment, then back at his fence.

With a determined bound, he rushed off towards the trees. He was just about to set his paws inside their shadows, when teeth closed around his scruff, and he wailed in terror.

"Oh hush," A deep voice growled, sounding highly annoyed. "You shouldn't be setting paws in our forest anyways, tiny Kittypet."

Rusty squeaked in surprise as his captor dropped him a few tail-lengths from the edge of the trees. A large, broad-shouldered tabby stood over him, he had dark brown fur and deep amber eyes that were narrowed in annoyance. "You're really tall," Rusty mewed. "Do you eat robins?" The cat looked startled at this question, "Yes, I do. I'm a warrior, I hunt for my food and eat it, including robins."

"You're cool," Rusty said in awe, staring up at him. He had to lean back to see the cat fully, and he fell over in the effort to do so.

The older at smirked, picking the clumsy kit up by the scruff again. "I can hear your mother calling you," He said around the kitten's fur, "I'll take you back." He padded away from the woods, leaping up onto the fence and down into the yard beyond.

Rusty's mother bounded up to them, looking relieved. "Oh, thank you! Thank you so much! I was so worried about him!"

The tiny ginger tom ducked away from his mother's worried licks, glancing at the forest cat's back as he jumped up onto the fence again. "Ah! Wait!" the cat paused, turning to look at him once more with those deep amber eyes. "Uh . . . What's your name?" Rusty mewed loudly, making sure the other heard.

The cat rolled his eyes, "It's Tigerclaw, Kittypet. But you don't need to remember that, since I doubt you'll ever see me again." He flicked his tail in farewell, disappearing into the world beyond the fence.

Rusty's emerald eyes widened, "Wow . . . I wanna be like him . . ."

"And eat robins?" Jester piped up.

"Yes! I will eat big scary robins! Even if I have to fight them!"

On the other side of the fence, Tigerclaw smirked, hearing these words from the kittens. "Good luck with that, Kittypet." He turned, padding into the forest, and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw a pretty tortoiseshell watching him. "Great Starclan Spottedleaf, what are you doing there, it's creepy."

"What were _you _doing?" she mewed lightly, smiling.

Tigerclaw flicked his gaze to the fence, then back to her, scowling, "Nothing. It's not like I'll ever see that scrap of fur again, so what's a good deed here and there, even for a Kittypet." He brushed past her, stalking into the forest with an annoyed huff.

She watched him go, smiling sadly, "You're wrong," she whispered. "You two are bound forever by fate. You will meet again, many times over, many lifetimes over, many worlds over. It's your destiny." She glanced back towards the fence again, "I wish you luck, little fire, until the day we meet."

RANDOM AUTHOR RAMBLE

I hope u liked it JuiceyLemons! And I hope it met what you thought it would be. I changed it slightly from what you said, making Rusty a biiiit younger, since he was barely six moons when he went into the forest the first time. And I thought tiny Fire was cute too. Sooo . . . Yup!

Just an FYI for everyone, I DO TAKE REQUESTS! This is the second one I've done, and I liked working on it very much. Basically I'll take an pairing, even femslash if you reeaaallly want it. *shrugs* it'd be interesting to try it, doesn't mean I'll like it tho. :]


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